<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <style>
  td { width:40px; background:green; }
  </style>
  <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
  <table border="1">

  <tr><td style="background:red;">Value 1</td><td></td></tr>
  <tr><td style="background:red;">Value 2</td><td></td></tr>

</table>
<script>$("td:parent").fadeTo(1500, 0.3);</script>

</body>
</html>